Introduction Introduction to the class as a whole Matthew 10:24-25 Context: Jesus sending out the 12 Observations We shouldn t be surprised that people have objections to Christianity. We shouldn t be surprised that people are hostile to Christianity! Examples: Bart Ehrman s continual quest to dismantle Christianity. For example, his most recent book, How Jesus Became God, claims that Jesus never claimed to be God, but that the disciples and authors of the gospels put that claim on his lips to legitimize their deviations from Judaism. People say things like There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages. All thinking men are atheists. I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. We are all too familiar with the ridicule in the media, marginalization in the political realm, and mockery throughout culture that Christians endure. So what is our reaction to be? Matthew 10:26-33 Do not fear. Incredible that Jesus would be so honest about the opposition his disciples will face, and then simply say, do not fear. Instead of fear, we are to: Be faithful to what Jesus teaches and commands. Don t fear man, but fear God. Remember that God cares for you. We re not to fear, but we are to have an answer ready. In this class, we re talking about how to answer these objections. What are some of the objections to Christianity that you ve heard? Two kinds of objections Moral objections judgmental/hypocritical, anit-gay, anti-women, etc. Content objections evolution, miracles, contradictions within the Bible No hard and fast distinction between these kinds of objections. Quick overview of the hand-out.
Why are Christians so judgmental? Have you ever heard this objection? What do you think people mean when they give this objection? Have you had experience with judgmental Christians? What people often mean: Christians just tell people why they are bad. Christians are always looking down their noses at others, but I know plenty of non- Christians who do good things! Why would I want to be a Christian if it means I have to be so negative to people all the time? I don t need to be a Christian to be a good person. Response 1 Self-Defeating Objection In the same vein as intolerance will not be tolerated. Claiming something is wrong, but then doing the very thing that you re objecting to. Taking it further: why won t this response get the job done for most people? Everyone makes moral judgments Torturing animals is wrong, being judgmental is wrong, etc. Everyone should be free to pursue what makes them happy, etc. So the question is not so much about moral judgments as it is about either: The way those moral judgments are given. (Response 2) The system of morals that is being applied. (Response 3) Response 2 Attitude of Moral Judgments Distinguish, in your own mind, the difference between judgment of an action and condemnation of a person. Judgment of an action stealing is bad, honesty is good, etc. We are supposed to make these kinds of judgments: these are applications of God s law to the way we live in the world. Condemnation of a person you re a bad person, you re going to hell, etc. While not totally out of line for Christians to say, these kinds of things should be matched with an offer of the Gospel. Keep in mind, too, that in the mind of many non-christians, when you judge a particular action they hear you condemning them as a person. The right attitude for moral judgments Romans 12:14-21 Context: Comments to the church after Rom 1-11. What does it mean to live our lives as sacrifices holy and pleasing to God? Content: the upside-down nature of the gospel. Seek the lowly. Respond to evil with good. Feed and clothe your enemy. Don t be wise in your own eyes.
Consequence: so what does this mean about how we should be making moral judgments? Not hiding our own faults. Not in an avenging way. Also, remember that non-christians don t have much of a reason to obey God s law! We shouldn t be surprised when non-christians do immoral things. Our moral judgments should primarily address Christians. Matthew 7:1-6 Context: the Sermon on the Mount Content: be careful when and how you judge! Consequence: Much the same! We judge even in a posture of repentance. Don t cast your pearls before swine: some people are so opposed to Christianity that any time you say you shouldn t do that, their first inclination is to go and do that very thing! Again, we shouldn t be surprised when non-christians disobey God s law. Response 3 Which system of morals should we judge by? Obviously, we think the Christian one, because it s true, but what would you say to someone who didn t believe that Christianity was right? What case are you going to make that the moral system taught in the Bible is better than any other? What do you think? Why not pursue the moral system that actually transforms people from being judgmental? Why not pursue the gospel, that says that without Christ, all of our good deeds are only dirty rags and need to be refined by fire? Why not pursue the system of morality that actually gives people the power, from within, to cast off their boasting and live humbly before God and others? Any ideas for any other responses to this objection? How do we keep from being judgmental people? I Cor 1:26-30 Matthew 20:20-28 The gospel of grace works through weakness, not strength. We do not lord it over people, we are not to think that we are chosen because we were the best. We are chosen because we our weak, and our weakness highlights God s strength. David and Goliath Gideon s army Unless we truly come to realize that we were not saved by any merit of our own, we will not be able to help but be judgmental.
Illustration: Revelations, by Flannery O Conner Picture of judgmental people. Setting: a waiting room in a doctor s office. The main character, Mrs. Turpin, a prim and proper lady, sits and talks with one of the other patients. Her husband, Clyde, sits nearby and offers the occasional comedic remark. Mrs. Turpin is a very pleasant, very judgmental person. If there s one thing I am, it s grateful. Basically, she spends the story looking around the room and, in her head, thinking about how glad she is that she isn t like those white trash in that corner, or the negroes on that couch, or the ugly girl in that chair. Mrs. Turpin is, in her own mind, the best kind of person on earth. In many Flannery O Connor stories, there s a beauty and a beast; but the beauty looks like a beast, and the beast like a beauty. In this story, Mrs. Turpin is the beast that looks like a beauty. The ugly girl, squatting and reading in her chair, is the beauty that looks like a beast. And what makes her beautiful? Throws her book at Mrs. Turpin s face. Says, really growls to her, go back to hell where you came from, you old wart hog. Mrs. Turpin s reaction: pg 506. Judgmental people are saved by Christ, but we must remember that in the kingdom of heaven, the last will be first and the first will be last. Our false virtues, the things that judgmental people hold onto and hold over others, are burned up. Why are Christians so hypocritical? Have you ever heard this objection? What do you think people mean when they give this objection? Have you had experience with hypocritical Christians? What people often mean: Christians say that they re so good, but look at all of the scandals within the church! Fallen ministers, sexual abuse in the Catholic church, etc. My co-workers go to church, but they sure don t work like it! I don t want to be a Christian if I have to put on a good face all the time. Response 1 What do you expect? Misunderstanding of what church is. What do you think I mean by that? Put church in the category of social club, but it probably fits better in the category of hospital. The church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners. Standard for membership is not primarily a set of actions, but of beliefs. Not going to church because of all the hypocrites is like not going to the gym because of all the out of shape people. If the church is to be about the gathering and perfecting of the saints, as our confession says, we should expect there to be some people there that need perfecting!
Response 2 Share the Gospel! Addressing this concern actually lets us share the gospel! Need for the gospel: the Fall. Even believers still need to be made holy! Rom 7, for example! Power of the gospel: Christ in you, the hope of glory. We are not yet what we will be, but by the grace of God we are not what we once were. Because Christ lives in us, we actually can put sin to death in our hearts and lives. Hope of the gospel: perfection in glory. Christianity is blatantly obvious with the expectation that we will never be perfect in this life. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But Christianity offers the promise that one day we will be with Christ in glory, and we will be made perfect. Rev 22:1-5 We can, with this response, be honest about the fact that there are hypocrites in the church, and even that we ourselves have lived hypocritically, and yet bold in proclaiming the God who cleanses even our hypocrisy. Any ideas for other responses to this objection? How can we keep from being hypocritical people? Matt 6:1-18 Context: Sermon on the Mount Content: Generosity Don t be like the hypocrites, who make a big show of it. Instead, be so sneaky with your generosity that your left hand doesn t know what you re right hand is doing! Prayer Don t be like the hypocrites, who make a big show of it. Instead, be so private with your prayers that you might as well be in your closet with the light out. Fasting Don t be like the hypocrites, who make a big show of it. Instead, go through extra pains to make it look like you re eating well so that others can t tell a difference. Consequence: Yes, be virtuous! But for the right reasons. Is your virtue done to win the praise of men or of God? Matt 23:25-28 Context: Teaching in the Passion Week Content: Concerned with outward cleanliness, but not inward purity. Concerned with outward appearance and action, but dead on the inside.
Consequence: we need internal cleansing. Pharisees were right in recognizing that the law requires obedience to perfection. They were wrong in thinking that the law was merely external. What we need is a transformation from inside, something we cannot do. Again, we turn to the gospel of grace, that transforms us from the inside and then calls us to holy living. God rescues the Israelites, then gives them the Law. God writes his law on our hearts so that we would live it in our actions. Illustration: East of Eden Adam Trask has two sons, Cal and Aron. Cal, on the whole, is less morally virtuous than Aron is. Aron falls in love with a girl from the town in California, Abra. He sees her as virtuous, upstanding, morally praiseworthy, and really, perfect. And while Abra loves Aron, she cannot bear the weight of his expectations that she be perfect, for she knows that there is darkness and sin within her. Eventually, this weight causes her to leave Aron. Lee, the Trask s family servant and the voice of reason in the story, is talking with her after she leaves, and makes an incredible observation: Now that you don t have to be perfect, you can be good. The pressure of perfection was impossible to her, but now that she doesn t have to live up to Aron s expectation of her, she can be good. This is the gospel! The law demands perfection, and it is crushing if we try and do it in our own strength. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, because we were saved while we were still sinners. And now that we don t have to be perfect, now that we have Christ living in us, we are free to obey the Law of perfect freedom: now that we don t have to be perfect, we are free to be good. So when you re called a hypocrite, you can boldly say I know! But thanks be to God that he makes hypocrites like me his children.